Germany's armed forces, the Bundeswehr, are developing a new satellite system to lessen their dependence on commercial providers such as Elon Musk's Starlink. Their new military strategy, a classified document, highlights “the security and sovereignty of Germany in space” as a “core objective of military action,” according to German news magazine Der Spiegel.
While the Bundeswehr uses a limited number of communications satellites for secure channels through the SATCOMBw system, this is only sufficient for small-scale overseas operations like those in Afghanistan or Mali, which can be covered by geostationary satellites. A high-ranking Bundeswehr general told Der Spiegel that for national and NATO defense, this approach is “largely obsolete.” The Bundeswehr needs a comprehensive network of communication satellites for global operation.
Plans for a German mini-Starlink are underway, and the defense ministry confirms the project's necessity. The multi-billion-euro project is now feasible due to relaxed national debt restrictions on defense spending. The plan is to launch roughly 300 small satellites in the coming years. A basic network could be operational by 2029, with further expansion planned. “In the future, every tank commander will need fresh aerial imagery every few seconds – without our own satellite network, that simply won’t be possible,” a Bundeswehr general stated.